Fuel feed for internal combustion engines



Aug. 18, 1936. J. A. SPEED 2,051,351

FUEL FLEED FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Nov. v24, 1931 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 18, 1936. J, SPEED 2,051,351

FUEL FEED FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTiON ENGINES Aliy- Patented Aug E8, 1936 PATENT orrlce FUEL FEED FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES James A. Speed, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor of one-fourth to A. M. Eckard and one-fourth to H. C. McManus, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application November 24, 1931, Serial No. 577,018

6 Claims.

This invention relates to internal combustion engines and has particular reference to means for feeding combustible fuel thereto.

The present day internal combustion engine,

5 especially in motor vehicles, is equipped with fuel feed means wherein each engine cylinder is supplied with fuel from a single manifold in communication with a source of supply of combustible fuel. In operating such engines at high speeds l and also when a quick wide opening of the throttle is effected, the ratio of increase in volume of the fuel feed through the manifold to the increase in velocity of the flow of fuel to the engine is usually insufficient to properly meet the fuel demands of the engine and the latter therefore does not operate efficiently at all speeds and at.

all times. Since a high velocity of flow of fuel through the manifold is desirable at all times to insure effective turbulence and a more thorough carburetion of the air without such waste of fuel as often caused by adherence and eddying thereof along the walls of the manifold when fed at slow velocities, the manifold or fuel feed passages leading to the engine have necessarily been of small diameters. Owing to this universal practice, the unbalanced condition aforementioned is brought about, and if, in attempting to remedy this objection, a manifold of a diameter large enough to provide the proper volume of fuel to 30 meet the varying demands of the engine is employed, then the velocity of the fuel stream. will drop below the point necessary to secure the aforesaid high velocity advantages.

Furthermore, an ordinary carburetor or a single fuel supply device is usually insufficient to provide the proper volume of fuel to meet the varying fuel demands of the engine, since at high speeds the fuel demands of the engine often ex! ceed the output of the carburetor or single source 40 of fuel and therefore the engine fails to operate efficiently. This is especially true with the slngle feed manifold or passage of small diameter such as now generally used to supply each engine cylinder with fuel.

45 In view of the foregoing it is an object of this invention to eliminate said objections and provide for a more efficient and economical engine operation at all times. Accordingly I provide for each engine cylinder, multiple fuel feed mani- 50 folds, conduits or passages of such small diameter as to insure the desirable high velocity fuel feed therethrough and which have sufficient vol umetric capacity to accommodate the volume of fuel necessary to meet the demands of the engine at all times.

To overcome the objections occasioned by the present day use of a single carburetor, and render more eflicient the multiple passage arrangement,

I preferably employ multiple sources of fuel in an arrangement whereby the additional sources 5 are brought into and out of operation to fully meet the fuel demands of the engine, while maintaining the high velocity flow when the larger as well as smaller volumes of fuel are fed to the engine. ,10

Another object of this invention is to provide fuel feed means of the character described which will operate automatically responsive to'the varying fuel demands of the engine to bring into and out of operation the multiple fuel feed sources 15 and passages.

A further object is to provide a fuel supply means of the character described which may comprise independent low speed and high speed fuel sources, such as carburetors, wherein the high 20 speed carburetor is normally inoperative and is made operative and inoperative only when predetermined variations in the'fuel demands of the engine take place.

Another object is to providein accordance with 5 this invention a simply constructed and comparatively inexpensive fuel feed unit which is comprised of an intake manifold and an auxiliary high speed carburetonand is subject to ready installation between the ordinary or low speed carburetor and the engine of various makes of motor vehicles as a replacement part for th ordinary intake manifold.

A further object is to provide 'a carburetor unit of the character described in which the intake manifold has dual feed passages communicating with each engine cylinder, in an arrangement making possible an emcient combination therewith of an auxiliary or high speed carburetor as well as facilitating a reliable control of the op- 40 tration of said carburetor while providing for the usual feed of fuel from the low speed carburetor.

Yet another object of this invention is to pro vide a fuel feed means of the character described wherein the control and regulation of the fuel feed thereof may be effected by the velocity of the fuel stream passing through the manifold.

Another and important provision oi',the invention is that automatically rendering the high speed carburetor inoperative upon closing ,the

with the foregoing. objects in view, together with such other objects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention resides in the -partsand in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the carburetor intake manifold unit of this invention, with parts broken away for the sake of clarity of illustration;

Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the unit, as shown in Figure l, with parts broken away;

Figure 3is a sectional view taken on llneI-J of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 2;

' Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 1-1 of Figure 2;

Figure 8 is a cross section taken on line 8-0 of Figure 6; a Figure 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of an internal combustion engine equipped with the to be inoperative while the low speed carburetor is functioning to feed fuel when the engine is operated at slow speeds, but becomes operative when the speed or conditions of operation of the engine are such that the slow speed carburetor is incapable of supplying sufficient fuel to eflectively meet the demands of the engine. Preferably, this'invention contemplates the use of the ordinary carburetor such as forms a part of the regular equipment of the present day motor vehicle,

as the slow speed carburetor, and therefore this invention may be easily carried out by the mere addition tosaid regular equipment of the auxiliary carburetor and its associated mechanism.

One convenient and efilcacious way to carry out the invention is to combine the auxiliary high speed carburetor with an intake manifold having multiple passages or conduits connected with each engine cylinder whereby to provide a carburetor-manifold unit which may be readily substituted for the ordinary manifold. In this arrangement the auxiliary carburetor, h connected with one manifold passage and is normally inoperative whereas the low speed or regular carburetor is connected with another manifold passage and is operative at all times. To render the buretor unit is seen to generally comprise a carburetor l0, such as forms a part of the regular equipment of an internal combustion engine A of an automobile, not shown, an auxiliary or high speed carburetor ll, intake conduits or passages i2 and I3 leading respectively from carburetors 5 II and II to said engine, and a means ii for controlling the operation of the carburetor ii.

The auxiliary or high speed carburetor II is normally inoperative but is arranged to feed fuel into the passage l3 when the speed of the engine 10 advances to a predetermined point, or when the throttle valve is suddenly opened, I am aware that various means operated either manually or automatically in response to engine speed variations may be employed to control the auxiliary carburetor, but I prefer to employ the means i5 which is operated by the velocity of the fuel gases flowing through the conduits l2 and i3 from the carburetor. ill to the engine.

With such an arrangement the means l5 will render the carburetor 'i I operative and inoperative dependent on the engine speed, and aforesaid throttle manipulation, to increase and decrease the fuel feed to meet the fuel demands of the engine. buretor it becomes the slow'speed'carburetor operating independent of the auxiliary carburetor under slow engine speeds, for example when the automobile is traveling under miles per hour, whereas the high speed carburetor I l commences-its operation and augments the fuel feed when higher engine speeds,'say of about 25 miles per hour, are reached. However, it should be noted that even when traveling at slow speeds should the throttle he suddenly opened, the auxiliary carburetor will be rendered operative as will be hereinafter described.

Preferably the conduits l2 and it are provided in a single manifold B having a partition C which defines the separate conduits. This arranse-v 40 ment provides for two fuel passages to each engine cylinder and facilitates the combination of the auxiliary carburetor with the manifold in such manner that the carburetor is virtually a part of the manifold. It is therefore-only necessary to substitute the manifold-carburetor unit for the regular manifold in order to carry out my invention in various makes of motor vehicles.

In order to provide the auxiliary carburetor ,H

as a part of the manifold B the upper central part of the latter has secured thereto a shell like body portion II the lower end I. of which opens in the uppermost manifold passage II. A header II is fixed on the upper end of this body portion and supports a valved jet or nozzle 20 which extends into said body through the air intake opening 2| at the upper end of the latter as shown in Fig. 5.- Associated with the valved jet II is a valve 2 arranged to control the air, intake opening II. The arrangement is such that the Jet II and'valve 22 are coincidentally opened and closed although they are normally closed and thereby normally render inoperative the carburetor provided thereby.

Fuel is conducted to the jet from the main feed line 23 through a branch feed line 24 shown in Fig. 9, also through passages 26 and 28 formed in the body portion and header, and an adjustable iet or nossle 21 shown in Fig. 5. The jet 21 is screwed into one end of a r-shaped tubular portion of the header and is adjustable exteriorly of the carburetor. Y

Fuel discharging from the jet." enters the head of the T-shaped portion II and g'ravitates Thus it is seen that the car- 25 therefrom into the stem 32 of said portion. Passage of the fuel through the stem 32 and out of a jet or nozzle portion 33 into a mixing chamber E is controlled by valve means next described, said valve means being here shown as operated by the means l5 which is actuated by the velocity of the gases passing from, the primary carburetor l9.

The aforesaid valve means includes, as best shown in Figure 6, a centrally apertured partition 36 in the stem,32, in the'aperture 31 of which partition is a vertically movable tubular valve mmber 38 arranged to control the passage of fuel through said aperture.

The upper end of the tubular valve member 38 is closed by a plug 39 having a passage 39' therethrough whereby fuel standing in the stem when the valve member 38 is closed, is permitted to enter the interior of saidvalve member. A secondary valve member 40 located interiorly of the valve member 38 controls the passage of fuel through an outlet 4| formed in the lower end of the member 38. Itis noted that when the valve 38 is closed, see Figure 6, the outlet H is in'a position to discharge fuel through the aperture 31 into the mixing chamber. However, such discharge of fuel is normally prevented by valve 48 which is held seated, as shown in Figure 5, by a spring 43 mounted on the reduced upper end of said valve. The spring 43 at one end engages a shoulder 44 on the valve 40 and at its upper end engages in a recess 45 in the inner end of the plug 39. It should be noted that a T-shaped passage 46 is formed in the upper part of the valve 40 whereby, as shown in Figure 6, an unobstructed flow of fuel is provided for when said valve is in its uppermost position and engaged slidably telescoping the stem 32 and provided at its lower end with a flange 5i. A pin 52 is extended transversely through and has its ends held in the sleeve by a spring clip 50, there being slots 53 in the stem 32 to slidably accommodate the pin. Carried by said pin within the stem 32 is a vertically adjustable screw 54. Extending upward from'this screw is a rod 55 which passes upward through'the aperture 31 and the outlet 4! into the valve 38 where it engages the lower end of the secondary valve 40.

It will now be seen that when the sleeve 58 is raised so as to open the air intake valve 22, the pin 52, screw 54 and rod 55 are likewise raised and cause the valve 40 to lift and open the outlet 41, as shown in Fig. 6. Inasmuch as the spring 48 is stronger than the spring 43 the valve 48 will open before the valve 33, which latter is not caused to open until the pressure of the rod 55 overcomes the force of the spring 48. As the valvesand their seats are conical, it should be noted that the amounts of. air and fuel admitted by the valves are varied dependent on the extent of opening of the latter, and that the lesser flow of fuel is controlled by the valve 40 which is of necessity fully opened before the greater flow permitted by the larger valve 38 is effected.

This fuel feed regulation is essential inasmuch as at certain speeds the valve 49, when opened. will provide for sufficient fuel to'meet the demands of an efliciently operated engine whereas at greater engine speeds both valves will be opened to provide the necessarily greater amount of fuel. Means operating responsive to variations in the speed of the engine is provided for operating the valves of the auxiliary carburetor ll. As here shown (see Fig. '7) said means includes a pivoted yoke 68 operated by a cam BI and disposed to engage the lower end of the sleeve 50. A shaft 62 journalled in a housing 63 on one side of the body portion I1, carries said cam and is operated by a pinion G4. The pinion 64 meshes with a rack bar 65 which at its lower end meshes with a pinion 66 on a shaft 6! extending transversely across the lower end of the housing 63. The

ends of the shaft 61 are disposed within ilie branches 68 and 69 of the manifold, particularly within the upper passage l3, as shown in Fig. 2.

Impeller vanes or blades H! are fixed to said ends of shaft 61 and depend like crank arms there-- from, with their fiat sides at right angles to the direction ofthe flow of gases through the manifold. A slot H (see Fig. 3) in the partition C of the manifold permits of swinging movement of the vanes Ill. The dimensions of the vanes are such that they will not objectionably obstruct the flow of gases through the manifold and yet admit of the vanes being swung or moved by said gases when the velocity thereof reaches apredetermined point.

the fuel through the manifold is accordingly in- I creased and thereby swings the vanes whereby For .example, when the automobile is traveling under 25miles per hour,

to rotate the shaft 61-, raise the rack 65 and; bring the auxiliary carburetor ll into operation...

However, the auxiliary carburetor H may be placed in operation when the engine is operating at lower speed than that required to effect such velocity of flow of the fuel through the manifold,

as to swing the vanes 10. Thisoccurs on sudden opening of the, throttle valve when the engine is operating at a low speed by reason of such opening of the throttle-valve momentarily creating differential pressures on opposite sides o'fthe the vanes so as to bring the auxiliary carburetor into operation and to maintain it in operation until the pressures on opposite sidesgof the vanes become equalized or the engine is accelerated" to createsufficient velocity of flow of the gases through the manifold to retain the vanes in their It should be notedthat a advanced position. greater movement 'or swing'of the vanes .and a correspondingly greater opening of the valves' 38 y and 40 whereby to increase the fuelffeed from the carburetor ILaccQmpany an increase in velocity of the flow of fuel which latter results, from increasing the engine speed orif rq flv denly opening the throttle valve.

To normally hold the rack, pinions, vanes, etc. in inoperative position, an arm 15 is pivoted at one end, as at 18, to a wall of the housing 63 and. has its other end connected with the rack rality of independent feed es and to be bar 65, it being noted that the latter is in seo tion's joined by a pin 11 which also connects the arm 15 with said rack bar. A spring I. is arranged to force the'arm downward and the downward pressureis'thus'exerted on the rack whereby'to hold the operating parts in normal or inoperative position. However, the vanes swing against the action of the spring when the velocity of the gases reach the predetermined points as aforementioned, the spring merely being of suilicient strength to insure the normal holding of the vanes in perpendicular position in the manifold. The force of the spring is therefore taken into consideration in determining the velocity necessary to move or swing the vanes as aforesaid.

Means is provided to positively'controi the operation of the auxiliary carburetor ll through manipulation of the throttle valve G. This is necessary since when the engine is operated at a speed which causes the. auxiliary carburetor II to operate. and the operator closes the throttle, the velocity of flow of fuel from the carburetor, it through passage It might prove sufficient to maintain the vanes in raised position, as indicated by the dotted lines in'l 'igure 3. and there- 'by maintain the carburetor II in operation. with the result that the closing of the throttle G would not decelerate the engine. Consequently, 1 provide an arrangement whereby on closing of the throttle G the carburetor I l is automatically rendered inoperative.

Accordingly a push rod II is arranged in the manifold so that its lower end is in position to be engaged and raised by the throttle valve G when the latter is closed. The upper end of this push rodis connected with a crank arm ll on a shaft. 82 arranged transversely of the housing 03. The shaft I! will therefore be rotated when the throttle valve is closed and through a leaf spring 03 afllxed thereto and engaging the arm II, will yieldingly urge the arm downward whereby to move the rack downward. On this downward -twoenginecylinders,asshowninl'igurel0.the

arrangementis construed as-providing a plurality of fuel feed passages for each emine cylinder.'or valve. inasmuch as the valves do not operate at the same time. Therefore it is seen that for example. when valve L is opened the multiple fuel feed passages serve said valve alone and whenvalveLis closedand valve Hisopened the latter is served by the multiple feed passages.

Inviewoftheforegoi'ngJwhhittobeunderstoodtbatlconsideranyarrangementwhereby fuelisfeduptotheemineportsuchas-theport Khere showmordirectly up to-thevslves or valve parts or seats ofeach cylinder. through a plurality of fuel feed passages of the character hereinbefore described and leading from a source ofsuppiyoffueltoconstituteameamforfeeding' olfueldirectlytoeachcylinderthroqhapluwithin the scope of my invention.

It is important to note that the use. in accordance withthis invention. of a plurality of fuel ducts or passages of comparatively small 6 diameter for servicing each cylinder of the engine makes possible theintroduction to said cylinder of a greater volume of fuel than is possible with the single conduit such as now generally used. without an appreciable or objectionable de- 10 crease in the velocity of the now of said fuel throi'mhsaid passages. Therefore, it is apparent that the'plurality of small diameter passages provide' for the proper ratio of volume increase to the velocity increase or vice versa to insure the 'feeding to the engine at all times of the proper amount of fuel to effect a most efllcient engine operation at all speeds and loads. Although this provision is best insured by the use. as herein-' before noted. of the two carburetors arranged to operate independently and simultaneously as the fuel demands of the engine are varied, it should be borne in mind that the invention may be carried out to a great measure of-advantage where the multi-passage manifold is served by a single source of fuel supply.,or single carburetor.

I claim:

l. A manifold having a plurality of passages for conducting fuel. directly to each cylinder of an internal combustion engine. and an auxiliary carburetor operative to supply fuel to one e of said manifold only when the engine reaches a predetermined speed.

2. A manifold having independent passages therein for conducting fuel from a source of fuel supply to an internal combustion engine, and 'an auxiliary carburetor carried by said manifold and connected with one of said es and operating to supply fuel thereto only when the engine reaches a predetermined speed.

'3. A plurality of independent fuel intake conduits for each cylinder of an internal combustion engine. a normally inoperative carburetor connected with one of said conduits. and means rendering said carburetor operative only when a pre determined engine speed is attained in the engine with which said conduits are connected.

- 4. In a fuel feed means for an internal combustion engine. a fuel intake manifold having a plurality of independent passages for connection with each cylinder of the engine. a normally inoperative .auxiliary source of fuel supply arranged to feed fuel through one of said passages to each cylinder of the engine, and means 7 operating responsive to variations in the velocity of flow of fuel through said manifold. to render operative and inoperativewsaid normally inoperative fuel source, a throttle valve associated. with and controlling said manifold. and means on operated through closing said valve to render said auxiliary fuel source inoperative.

t. 1nafuelsupplymeansforaninternalcom.-. bustion engine. an intake manifold having a plurality of independent passages adapted for direct 55 communication with each cylinder of the-engine andforconnectionwithasouroeofsupplyof combustible fuel, said manifold having an auxiliarysirintakeopeninginone ofsaidpassages. a

valve normally closing said opening. a normally closed auxiliary fuel intake valve in said last named passage. means operating responsive to variations in the velocity of flow of fuel through said manifold for opening and closing said valves.

0. In combination. an internal combustion 7 engine, a normally operative carburetor, a nor maliy inoperative carburetor, independent conduits leading from said carburetors communicating with each of the cylinders of said engine, a vane in'the conduit leading from said normally operative carburetor responsive to increase in the velocity of fuel flowing through said conduit, and means associated with said vane rendering operative said second named carburetor on said vane being moved under the influence of in creased velocity of the fuel.

' JAMES A. SPEED. 

